Bill Bryson Quotes

I once joked in a book that there are three things you can't do in life. You can't beat the phone company, you can't make a waiter see you until he is ready to see you, and you can't go home again.

With situations that you have no power over, there is no point in worrying about one thing or another. Why think about things that you can't control?

What's the use coming home to get the blues over what can't be helped.

I don't believe in expending energy on something you can't do anything about. If there was some easy way of fixing things, I'd probably do it.

I decided I can't pay a person to rewind time, so I may as well get over it.

There are things that are not in your control and you will never be able to control them. You've got to accept that very quickly.

The past is the past: what can you do about it?

There's no point in looking back, because there's nothing you can really do to improve the film. You can only aggravate and wish you had done stuff better.

Being an adult means accepting those situations where no action is possible.

I am tired of trying to hold things together that cannot be held. Trying to control what cannot be controlled. I am tired of denying myself what I want for fear of breaking things I cannot fix. They will break no matter what we do.

I know there are certain things that I just can't win.

There is nothing you can do about it but sit back and watch.

I don't go around regretting things that don't happen.

If you're playing for the Kansas City Royals about all you can do is beat your head against the wall.

We can't control it, and we've basically quit trying. People are going to talk, and people are going to lie.

When you really can't affect something, you almost don't wanna wish too hard, because it's just frustrating.

At first I was a bit indignant about it, and then I realised, 'No, that's what people want, so that's what is given.' But it's not in your control. It's just what happens to you, and that's what's frightening.

There is no sense in crying over spilt milk. Why bewail what is done and cannot be recalled?

My life is what it is, and I can't change it. I can change the future, but I can't do anything about the past.

If a film is not a success, then that's just the way things are. Nothing I can do can make a difference. I have stopped worrying about it.

As I get older the stars have gone from my eyes more, and I see that life is just something that has to be lived with, that it's better not to struggle.

I once joked in a book that there are three things you can't do in life. You can't beat the phone company, you can't make a waiter see you until he is ready to see you, and you can't go home again. Since the spring of 1995, I have been quietly, even gamely, reassessing point number three.

You can't control everything.

When you're type A you always think you can fix anything. Sometimes there's nothing you can do.

Some things you can't control.